“Bentley supposes this Cantor to have been Flaccus the musician, (_mentioned in the title_,) who, when the play was over, entreated the favour of the audience: but I should rather think Calliopius to have been the Cantor, if there was any foundation in antiquity for his name being at the end of the plays; but the name seems fictitious to me by the etymology thereof, and it being used in this place. It is indeed at the end of every play, in all the _three manuscripts in Dr. Mead’s_ collection except Phormio, which is the last play in the prosaic copy; and the only reason for Calliopius recensui not being there, is, doubtless, because the play is imperfect, some few verses being out at the conclusion; ω precedes the farewell in one of the doctor’s copies, ο in another, and the largest copy has neither. What is independent of the action of the play, as the last two lines are, may be looked upon as an epilogue, and was probably spoken by the same person, whether _player_, _prompter_, or _cantor_.”――COOKE. NOTE 218. _End of the fifth Act._ At the end of a play, the Romans closed their scenes, which, instead of falling from the roof of the theatre downwards, as among the moderns, were constructed something similarly to the blinds of a carriage; so that when the stage was to be exposed to the view of the spectators, the scene or curtain was let down, and when the piece was concluded, it was drawn up again. The ancients originally performed their plays in the open air, with no scenery but that furnished by nature. As they became more refined, they erected theatres, and introduced scenes, which they divided into three kinds: 1. tragic, 2. comic, 3. pastoral. Some very valuable information on this subject may be gathered from M. Perrault’s Notes on Vitruvius, who has described the various sorts of ancient scenes. Ovid, in the following verses, describes the original simplicity of the Roman dramatic entertainments: “Tunc neque marmoreo pendebant vela theatro, Nec fuerant liquido pulpita rubra croco. Illic quas tulerant nemorosa palatia frondes Simpliciter positæ SCENA sine arte fuit.” FINIS. LONDON: Printed by W. CLOWES, Northumberland-court. Transcriber’s Note: Words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in the text. These have been left unchanged unless indicated below. Obsolete and alternative spellings were left unchanged.